The children spend time preparing for departure - learning how to fly the ship, testing systems, ensuring everything is ready. On their last night before they start the mission, the children all gather in the forest by the lake, and remember the events that brought them to this point. Howard worries that it might be their last night, but Kaoru tells him they're not going so they can die - it's so they can live. The next day, they evacuate all of the coffins from the ship, leaving Adam and Tako behind to take care of them and the planet, and then prepare for takeoff. With Kaoru as pilot and commander, Shingo on engineering, Chako looking after the computer, Bell on power systems, Menori and Luna on flight plan and navigation, Howard on life support, and Sharla on communications, the takeoff happens without a hitch.